A heating cooker is conventionally known wherein a high-temperature air current circulating within a heating chamber is supplied with a saturated water vapor to make use of high-speed heating by a condensation heat transfer action of the water vapor on a food surface and of an advantage of restraining an outflow of vitamins, minerals, delicious components or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
FIG. 7(A) is a front elevational view of a conventional heating cooker 100 and FIG. 7(B) is a cross-sectional view of the conventional heating cooker 100, showing an internal configuration thereof as viewed from the side. As shown in FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B), the conventional heating cooker 100 is provided with a pair of upper rails 102 each formed on a right inner wall surface or a left inner wall surface of a heating chamber 101 so as to extend in a front-back direction. The pair of upper rails 102 is used to removably place an upper cooking dish 103 thereon. A pair of lower rails 104 are each formed on the right inner wall surface or the left inner wall surface of the heating chamber 101 so as to extend in the front-back direction. The pair of lower rails 104 are used to removably place a lower cooking dish 105 thereon.
The heating chamber 101 has upper discharge holes 106 and lower discharge holes 107 defined in a rear wall thereof. The heating chamber 101 also has suction holes 108 defined in the rear wall thereof. Air inside the heating chamber 101 is inhaled through the suction holes 108 and heated by a heater, and the heated air is discharged into the heating chamber 101 through the upper discharge holes 106 and the lower discharge holes 107.
A steam guide 109 is fixed to the left inner wall surface of the heating chamber 101 between the upper rail 102 and the lower rail 104. The steam guide 109 has a plurality of guide portions 110 formed therewith, which have a cylindrical shape extending horizontally in a right-left direction and are connected to a steam port of a steam generating unit (not shown). Each guide portion 110 guides steam supplied from the steam port of the steam generating unit. The steam supplied from the steam port is guided along inner peripheral surfaces of the guide portions 110 and supplied into the heating chamber 101 so as to flow horizontally straight at a height between the upper rails 102 and the lower rails 104.
Patent Document 1: JP 2007-3090 A